DESCRIPTION OF ALKALI-INDICATING PLANTS 77 



confined to the Southwest as far north as Arizona and 

 southern Nevada. 



Glaux maritima. A salt marsh, small leafy-stemmed 

 perennial herb propagated by slender running root-stocks. 

 Stems about 2 to 4 inches high. Leaves oval-shaped. 

 Flowers purplish or white. 



Holer pestes cymbalaria. - - Trailing buttercup is so named 

 because of long -join ted stolons from which spring new 

 plants at each node. Low-growing, rather hairy, with 

 yellow flowers and oblong cylindrical heads of fruit; found 

 in moist places. Leaves broadly egg-shaped, coarsely 

 toothed and clustered at the base of the flower stems or 

 nodes of the stolons. Flower stem 2 to 4 inches high. 



Hemizonia pungens. Spike-weed is a yellow-flowered 

 much-branched spiny composite from a few inches to 2 

 or 3 feet high. The leaves are arranged opposite along 

 hairy or bristly branches. Found in dense patches fre- 

 quently to the exclusion of other plants on well-drained 

 generally mildly alkali lands of southern California. 



Hordeum nodosum (L.). Wild barley, sometimes called 

 foxtail, belongs to the same group as common barley, but 

 is seldom taller than 24 inches. Has a narrow spike which 

 is usually dark green or purple, and is awnless. 



Kochia. White sage (Kochia veftita), dull gray plant 

 about 5 to 6 inches high with a shrubby base and roundish 

 densely hairy leaves. Viewed at a distance, bunches give 

 appearance of gray blanket. Flowers solitary or few in 

 the axils. Ovary oblong nearly equaling the calyx. 

 Ripened ovary membranous. Strong taproot to about i 

 foot deep. 



Lepidium montanum ( Nutt.). Pepper grass is a smooth 

 appearing biennial herb with small white petals. The 

 stems spring from the crown of the thick root and extend 



